The political parties’ platforms and rhetoric ahead of the February 9 general elections highlight Kosovo’s long-standing approach to gender justice — treating it as a symbolic mention rather than a transformative priority.

Calls for gender equality, backed by concrete policies, rarely echo in the walls of the Kosovo Assembly. Instead, these calls resonate powerfully outside, on the streets, where Kosovar women gather to protest and demand gender justice. However, political representatives consistently meet these demands with indifference, failing to translate them into tangible and meaningful change.

Every new statistic or data confirms an old and harsh reality: women face high unemployment. Among 595,474 women of working age, only 19.8% are employed — almost three times less than the percentage of men who are employed. Of the 576,289 men of working age, 53.4% are employed. This disparity only scratches the surface of a deeper structural problem.

Kosovo’s labor law, unchanged for 15 years, reinforces patriarchal norms by placing the primary financial burden of maternity leave on employers — discouraging businesses from hiring women. The law largely excludes fathers from shared parental responsibilities by granting them only two days of parental leave, reinforcing the association between women and unpaid care work.

Meanwhile, the limited availability — or complete lack — of public preschools and kindergartens, or day care centers, with just 62 across Kosovo and nine cities lacking them entirely, leaves many women with no option other than full-time child care. This situation severely hinders their ability to enter the labor market.

At the same time, there are no systematic efforts to integrate Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian women into the economy, leaving them with even fewer employment opportunities. Queer women face exclusion too, grappling with the harsh realities including isolation, domestic violence, high levels of poverty and significant labor market exclusion.

Political establishments in Kosovo have failed to implement progressive legal provisions, such as the Law on Gender Equality and the Istanbul Convention. While the Law on Gender Equality mandates equal representation, party lists barely meet the 30% threshold for women’s inclusion.

Similarly, the Istanbul Convention — a landmark treaty to combat gender-based violence — has had little impact on improving the justice system’s response to domestic violence since it became part of Kosovo’s Constitution in 2020. Perpetrators often receive lenient treatment from the justice system, shelters for victims remain chronically underfunded and social workers frequently lack the basic resources needed to provide effective support.

The absence of a feminist approach in institutions reinforces cultural norms that associate property ownership with men, perpetuating the low percentage of women who own property. Ensuring women’s access to property would not only uphold their inherent rights but also promote their economic independence.

Meanwhile, even when discussions on gender issues take place, the Kosovo Assembly’s patriarchal tone continues to portray women primarily by their roles as mothers in nuclear families. This dynamic was particularly evident in the past two years, during debates on the Draft Law on Reproductive Health and Medically Assisted Fertilization (IVF).

The debate primarily focused on Article 15 of the draft law, which grants single women over the age of 18 the right to access IVF. Currently, single women and couples can become parents through IVF in private hospitals under an administrative instruction.

The draft law would extend this process to the public health system, making it available at a lower cost. Conservative deputies blocked the adoption of the draft law, fueling a debate language laden with gender bias and dominated by misconceptions about the process — undermining the essence of the issue.

These discussions sent a disturbing message. Political representatives neither understand, prioritize, nor care about the bodily autonomy of half the country’s population. This disregard is further reflected in the absence of debates on critical issues, such as the right to safe abortion and access to gender-affirming care.

For trans women and non-binary individuals, discrimination in accessing healthcare underscores the systemic erasure of their needs. Ultimately, this is about more than healthcare or the ability to have children — it is about creating safe spaces, whether as students, employees or within family life.

The absence of these debates highlights a lack of clear stances and positioning, which is also evident in the platforms and electoral promises of the country’s largest political parties.

In the lead up to the 2025 general elections, K2.0 analyzed the plans of the three largest political entities: the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), which is competing in coalition with the Social Democratic Initiative, the E-30 Intellectual Forum Party and the Conservative List.

Vetëvendosje (VV) has not yet published its election program. As a result, K2.0 analyzed the steps it has taken while governing the country over the past four years to assess what another mandate could entail if they secure one.

Vetëvendosje

VV, the ruling party in Kosovo and the first to complete a full term, has yet to present a cohesive political program addressing gender justice. Despite its sizable parliamentary majority, VV has repeatedly failed to address systemic gender inequality, opting instead for implementing fragmented policies that, rather than dismantling traditional gender roles, further reinforce them.

At the start of the election campaign, Prime Minister Albin Kurti, VV’s prime ministerial candidate for the upcoming elections, promised that the next mandate would see an increase of women participation in the labor market through initiatives like Superpuna, included in the youth employment scheme.

Launched in March 2023, this initiative — presented as one of the key measures for youth employment — offers financial subsidies of 350 euros per month for six months to employers who hire individuals aged 18 to 29. During the campaign, the prime minister stated that approximately 14,000 young people have been employed through Superpuna, half of whom, according to him, are women.

When it comes to supporting women, the government’s attention has largely focused on schemes for mothers and children. Unemployed women receive 170 euros per month for six months after giving birth, while employed women receive the same amount for three months, in addition to the standard maternity leave allowance.

Although these benefits provide short-term financial relief, particularly for women from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, the lack of follow-up policies or complementary legal initiatives risks reinforcing traditional gender roles by relating women’s societal value primarily to motherhood.

VV has not taken any steps to amend the maternity leave provisions, to shift a more substantial portion of the financial burden of maternity leave to the state or to introduce paternal leave policies that allow men to take on more child care responsibilities. In fact, the draft law to amend and supplement the Labor Law, which was included in the government’s Legislative Program for 2023, is absent from the Legislative Program for 2024.

As for child care, since the election campaign began, the prime minister has repeatedly mentioned an unconventional idea — now an election promise — regarding early childhood care: the state will pay grandparents who care for their grandchildren. Although the details of this policy remain unclear, it appears at first glance to take a conservative approach that shifts the state’s responsibility to the extended family. It also remains to be seen whether this policy will replace the previous promise to build kindergartens. Out of the 160 initially promised, only five had been built by December 2024.

In the context of combating gender-based violence, the National Strategy on Protection against Domestic Violence and Violence Against Women 2022–2026 has been recognized by women’s rights organizations as an important and urgent step. However, there is still no concrete data available on the effects of its implementation on the ground.

Despite its parliamentary majority, VV has failed to advance several key reforms for gender justice and has frequently made concessions to conservative narratives. A prime example is the draft Civil Code, which was blocked in the Kosovo Assembly in 2022 due to claims and misinterpretations by deputies that it would legalize same-sex marriages.

In reality, the draft Civil Code was intended to pave the way for civil unions between same-sex individuals, specifying that these unions would be regulated by a separate law. Human rights activists have repeatedly criticized this approach as exclusionary and unconstitutional. Some deputies, particularly from VV, repeatedly used homophobic rhetoric in public discourse. Several of them later formed Lista për Familje.

Not only did VV fail to produce a draft Civil Code that would recognize same-sex marriages, but it also failed to prevent the Kosovo Assembly from becoming a platform for the stigmatization of queer individuals. Following the 2022 session, the draft Civil Code was never reintroduced for a vote in the Kosovo Assembly.

A similar discourse unfolded in late 2024 regarding handbooks on sex education and reproductive health for primary school teachers in grades one to five. In a campaign against sex education in schools, the content of the handbooks, which are marked by linguistic deficiencies and poor translations, was further distorted and weaponized by Eman Rrahmani, a former VV deputy and founder of Lista për Familje, with support from both government and opposition figures.

Rather than seizing this opportunity to defend and promote the importance of comprehensive sex education, Kurti and the Ministry of Education chose to withdraw the handbooks, banning their use. This decision can be seen as a missed opportunity to advance much-needed fundamental reforms in sex education in the education system.

VV also failed to advance the Reproductive Health and Medically Assisted Fertilization Draft Law. When opposition deputies and party members opposed the entire process, the government remained indifferent to the harmful rhetoric surrounding reproductive health rights.

The Reproductive Health Draft Law and the draft Civil Code were, in fact, the final catalysts for Eman Rrahmani and Visar Korenica to leave VV and form Lista për Familje, which is now running in the elections on a deeply anti-gender platform.

Cloaked in rhetoric about “saving the traditional family” and “protecting national identity,” their agenda — lacking a published platform — relies on patriarchal narratives and pro-natalist policies that openly reject gender justice and the fundamental rights of non-binary individuals.

The lack of support for progressive reforms and ideas — particularly same-sex unions, sex education and reproductive health — clearly demonstrates VV’s lack of commitment to transformative gender justice. As a result, the party has largely upheld the status quo of institutionalized patriarchy, leaving significant gaps in addressing the needs and rights of diverse groups of women. Although its platform has not yet been published, the proposals presented thus far continue to reinforce this status quo.

Democratic League of Kosovo

As a center-right party, LDK views gender justice through a traditional lens, closely associating it with the concept of the heteronormative nuclear family as the cornerstone of society. One area where LDK claims to support gender equality is through Kosovo’s foreign policy. However, the specifics of how this goal will be achieved remain unclear; the program states that “activities, budget allocations and concrete legislative measures will be undertaken.”

The centerpiece of LDK’s platform is its focus on the family as the primary institution for social welfare. This is reflected in its proposal to create a Ministry of Family and Social Welfare. According to LDK, this ministry is responsible for unifying and coordinating all policies and programs related to the family and general social welfare.

While the party often highlights the family as a core value, it fails to address the oppressive realities faced by women in Kosovo’s families, particularly regarding violence and femicide. By idealizing the family without acknowledging its frequent role as a space of control and violence against women, LDK ignores the daily experiences of many women and the systemic factors that sustain their oppression.

LDK’s platform supports gender equality, but it does so within the framework of the family. This reflects a narrow and exclusionary perspective, ignoring individuals and communities that face systemic discrimination and oppression. For instance, queer women, single mothers and women from non-Albanian communities are entirely absent from LDK’s platform.

From its traditional perspective, it is no coincidence that LDK emphasizes family values, focusing on initiatives such as financial support for newborns and incentives for new families to purchase houses. Through the Home Ownership Incentive for New Families program, which offers reduced interest rates, special mortgage packages and direct subsidies, LDK promises to help families with young children secure homes without incurring excessive debt.

Pro-natalist policies in proposals include offering 5,000 euros for the birth of a third child and providing support covering basic and essential needs for all children during their first year of life. While support for newborn care is beneficial, encouraging the birth of a third child opens a discussion on the potential impact on women’s reproductive rights, access to the labor market and broader societal implications.

These pro-natalist policies often reinforce traditional gender roles, pressuring women and prioritizing childbearing over personal aspirations or health, limiting their autonomy in reproductive decisions. Financial incentives linked to childbearing may pressure economically disadvantaged women to have more children, regardless of their desire.

Promoting large families without addressing women’s employment and workplace protections can lead to extended career breaks, hindering their professional growth. The lack of support for shared parental responsibilities reinforces the view that child care and unpaid work are primarily women’s duties, deepening gender inequalities in labor market participation.

Democratic Party of Kosovo

PDK demonstrates a limited approach to addressing gender equality and women’s rights. While it includes some progressive proposals, it lacks clear and actionable strategies for achieving radical change. A more promising aspect is its effort to address the gender gap in employment, through the proposed revision of the Labor Law.

The proposal to extend maternity leave to include parental leave for fathers is a progressive step toward recognizing shared responsibilities for child care. This proposal has the potential to create a more equitable working environment and increase women’s participation in the labor market. However, the absence of a clear plan for implementing parental leave may make this measure more of a promising idea than a policy with concrete impact.

PDK also proposes the construction of new day care centers to provide adequate infrastructure for early education. Additionally, it promises to provide 100 euros per month to families unable to afford public day care — a measure that can temporarily alleviate the financial burden for some families.

Protecting women’s inheritance rights is an important step toward challenging patriarchal norms surrounding property. However, PDK approaches the issue from a procedural perspective, without addressing the cultural and social barriers that prevent women from claiming their property rights. While PDK is the only party to include women’s property rights in its program, its approach remains superficial and fails to address a deeper problem of gender discrimination in property distribution.

PDK’s platform acknowledges the need to encourage women to participate in the labor market and reduce unpaid work, like child care and elder care. However, it lacks a clear vision for enabling more women to secure employment.

PDK remains silent on issues affecting queer women, single mothers, women from ethnic minorities and survivors of gender-based violence. While PDK aims to present some progressive interventions, the promised policies remain general and fail to offer concrete solutions to address issues of equality and social justice.

AAK-NISMA Coalition

The AAK-NISMA coalition’s political program on gender equality reflects a perspective similar to that of LDK, viewing the family as “the foundation of the nation and historical memory.”

However, this coalition adopts a stronger patriarchal approach and portrays the family as being threatened by ideological and social changes. The program attributes society’s shift from collective responsibility to individual entitlement and the “unselecting adoption of foreign values” as challenges that face the family. This broad rhetoric supports a rigid and traditional model of the family, resisting individual autonomy and progressive gender roles.

For the AAK-NISMA coalition, the family fulfills four basic functions: protection, reproduction, income generation and raising and educating children. To support these functions, the coalition proposes creating a Ministry of Family, tasked with drafting laws and policies to uphold and preserve them.

Although the program states that the ministry would develop policies to promote gender equality, it is difficult to envision achieving this goal from an approach that prioritizes strengthening traditional family structures. A more progressive element is the proposed support for single parents and the promotion of working hours that accommodate family responsibilities, but further details on these aspects are missing.

When it comes to organizations outside the traditional family, AAK-NISMA not only excludes but openly discriminates against queer individuals and those who do not adhere to the nuclear family model. The coalition’s program calls for caution in drafting legislation affecting the family, describing the tendency to legalize same-sex marriages and the sterilization or artificial insemination for unmarried women over 18 years of age as “meaningless,” referencing the draft civil code and proposed legislation on assisted fertilization.

The financial support proposal, called the “Family Welfare Package,” operates entirely in a pro-natalist framework and views women primarily through their reproductive role. It offers minimum wage support to unemployed women with three or more children under 10 years old, subsidies of 1,500 euros for the first birth, 2,500 euros for the second and 3,500 euros for the third, as well as a one-year minimum wage subsidy for unemployed women following the first and second births. These measures lack vision for increasing women’s employment, further reinforcing the reduction of women to their reproductive role as mothers.

AAK-NISMA, in its program, states that its approach to gender equality is inspired by Germany’s Ministry for Family Affairs. However, a ministry of family does not necessarily support a narrow and heteronormative concept of the family. In Germany, the Federal Ministry for Families, Seniors, Women and Youth addresses diverse family models beyond the heteronormative nuclear family.

The ministry’s website states: “Supporting families to shape their lives according to their own ideas — this is the goal of good family policy.” Additionally, the ministry’s website highlights measures within the Queer Living plan, through which the federal government seeks to strengthen acceptance and protection of sexual and gender diversity while combating anti-queer sentiment.

Yet, family ministries are often associated with conservative values due to their emphasis on traditional family structures and roles. Such traditional structures frequently promote the nuclear family model and pro-natalist measures, encouraging heteronormative marriage, traditional gender roles and parenthood as central societal values.

What can we learn from these election programs?

The political programs for these elections fail to offer a thorough approach that addresses gender injustice at its roots. The absence of concrete plans and interventions on critical issues, such as the labor law — unchanged for 15 years and continuing to uphold patriarchal norms that hinder women’s participation in the labor market — exemplifies this superficial approach.

Failure to acknowledge the multiple inequalities faced by ethnic minorities and queer women, combined with the lack of measures to address femicide, underscores an absence of a feminist approach in the electoral offerings of this election.

At the same time, the strong association of women’s rights with the notion of the heteronormative nuclear family suggests that genuine efforts to recognize women as equals in their own right — without assigning them roles such as that of a mother — remain absent from government visions. This is particularly evident in the deeply pro-natalist policies featured in most political programs, which encourage childbearing through financial incentives but fail to address the pressures and oppression women face both within and outside their families.

Feature Image: Dina Hajrullahu / K2.0.

What do political platforms say about gender justice?

K2.0 analyzes political parties’ pledges.

Dafina Halili

What do political platforms say about gender justice?

K2.0 analyzes political parties’ pledges.

Dafina Halili